Field of the Invention
My invention is particularly related to a cigarette or tobacco smoke cleansing smoking device which in the illustrated embodiment comprises a holder for the cigarette. The invention more particularly relates to a tobacco smoke cleansing pocket size smoking device where the user can smoke a cigarette or similar tobacco article in such a way that smoke can not readily escape from the smoking device unless the smoke has been cleansed by a smoke filter carried on the smoking device. In addition, and according to my invention, my pocket sized smoking device also is uniquely constructed so that inhaled smoke can be exhaled back through a mouthpiece disposed at one end of the smoking device so that the exhaled smoke can then also be cleansed by the filtering device carried in an opposite end of the smoking device. Thus, the smoking device has a two way function in that a single mouthpiece can be used on the smoking device to inhale smoke and then to receive exhaled smoke without transmitting unfiltered tobacco smoke to the atmosphere surrounding the smoker or others in the area of the smoker without first having been cleansed by the smoke filter.
Heretofore, various embodiments of a smoking device have been proposed and attention is directed to the following patents:
______________________________________ Inventor: Title: U.S. Pat. No. ______________________________________ L. Ribera Cigarette Holder 1,896,015 O. H. Martin Cigarette or Cigar Holder 2,073,596 C. Blasutti Ultrasonic Cigarette Holder 4,131,119 or Pipe System W. Pearlman Automatic Smoking Device 4,164,230 A. C. Jackson Combination Cigarette Holder 4,369,798 and Cigarette Smoke Catcher Bonanno et al. Cigarette Holder 4,637,407 L. G. Valdez Cigar or Cigarette Holder 4,685,477 F. E. Wallace Smoke Eliminator For 4,790,332 Cigarette Smokers ______________________________________
It is not believed that any of the above patents relate to my invention and therefore further discussions of them is not believed to be necessary.
With respect to prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,407 there are several primary points of difference that exist between my device and the patented device. In this respect, one important difference concerns the fact that the patented device makes no provision for having a by-pass valve and for utilizing the cigarette casing and its filtering system for the purpose of cleansing exhausted smoke. With the patented device, I contemplate using the fan and the filter as a means to move cigarette fumes out of the cigarette casing but there is no provision for blowing exhaled smoke into the filter tip end 18 and then to cause the smoke to be filtered in the way developed by the present applicant. Certainly there is no provision for the use of a by-pass valve to enable exhaled smoke to be blown longitudinally the length of the cigarette casing through the motor chamber and out through the filter end of the casing. With my device, I can use his motor and fan as a device to increase the velocity of the exhaled smoke to force it through the filter.
Another difference between my tobacco smoking device and the prior art device shown in the 407' patent concerns the way in which the cigarette or tobacco can be lit. There is provided a lighter hole in the door so that the cigarette can be lit when the door is closed and after the cigarette has been placed in the cigarette casing as shown in FIG. 1. With the patented device, it appears that the smoker must light his cigarette before he places it into the filtering device. The patentee has not clearly stated in this patent how this step can be accomplished. It appears that it would be necessary to remove an end of the cigarette casing to light the cigarette and thereafter the end of the casing is placed back onto the main part of the casing which carries the lit cigarette. It should also be noted that the 407' patent shows a so-called "huge smoking device" rather than a pen or pencil size smoking device as the present application has invented.
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, my unique tobacco smoke cleansing pocket size smoking device is adapted for use with various types of members such as cigarettes, small cigars and the like. My pocket sized smoke cleansing smoking device has a two-way valve and a single filter tip in communication upstream with the valve so that a smoker can draw smoke from a burning smoking article such as a cigarette into the smokers mouth when the valve is in one position, then the smoker can exhale the smoke to cause the smoke to re-enter the mouthpiece and pass through a filter at an opposite end of the smoking device so that the exhaled smoke can be cleansed by the filter before it is discharged to atmosphere. My device further contemplates the use of a motor and a fan to draw fumes from the burning area of the tobacco to cause the fumes to flow to an opposite end of the smoking device where a filter is located so that the same filter can also be used to cleanse smoke being emitted by the burning tobacco. One of the main purposes of my invention is to permit a smoker to smoke tobacco without causing the fumes emitted from the burning tobacco to be circulated in the surrounding air without first having been cleansed by a smoke cleansing filter.